In a case of one news-reader app helping another, Japan’s Gunosy has invested $5 million in Indonesia-based Kurio.

Gunosy went public in Tokyo last year; this year it has embarked on a series of investments, which included the acquisition of game strategy site Game8. Now it is turning to Southeast Asia by stumping up the cash for Kurio’s Series B round, which values the Indonesian startup at around $12 million, according to a filing [PDF in Japanese].

Contrary to the assumption that Gunosy’s investment is the precursor to an acquisition, David Wayne Ika — co-founder and CEO of Kurio — told TechCrunch that his company is plotting for a public listing just like Gunosy. Kurio already has links with Japan, having taken past investment from CyberAgent Ventures, and Ika said that a funding-led trip to Japan yielded nine prospective investors from the country.

Ultimately, Kurio chose Gunosy, he explained, because of the experience that it can lean on from its Japanese partner.

“Given [the current state of investment in] the Indonesian market right now, we need smart money,” Ika told us in an interview.